


Sibling Bonding

by AlexiaBlackbriar13



Series: Man's Best Friend [2]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Anxiety, Family Bonding, Gen, Light Angst, Oliver Queen Has PTSD, Oliver gets a service dog, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Service Dogs, Social Anxiety, Thea's Recreational Drug Use, season 1 AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-25
Updated: 2016-06-25
Packaged: 2018-07-18 05:24:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7301200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexiaBlackbriar13/pseuds/AlexiaBlackbriar13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After an unusual, if not alarming first meeting between Thea and Hunter, Oliver and his sister butt heads over the service dog's role within the archer's life.</p><p>Although this seems to be due to some sort of jealousy the younger Queen sibling has over showing affection to Hunter, Oliver soon realises there's a larger matter at play - Thea's misunderstanding of Oliver's PTSD and anxiety.</p><p> </p><p>  <i>(Thanks for 400 followers on Tumblr!)</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Sibling Bonding

**Author's Note:**

> And once again, we are back with the Man's Best Friend 'verse, this time focussing on Thea and Oliver's sibling relationship now that Hunter is in their lives :)
> 
> Thank you so much for all the support I have already received for this 'verse, it's been absolutely amazing and I really very much appreciate it.
> 
> Still taking ideas and semi-prompts for this verse if you have any, leave them down in the comments!

Thea was the first to find out.

Well, no, technically Moira, Walter and Diggle were, but considering his mother, step-father and bodyguard had been there at the time of Hunter being assigned to Oliver, they weren’t the first to find out, as they had originally known about Oliver getting a service dog. His little sister, on the other hand, hadn’t known. The archer would have thought Moira and Walter would have informed their other household-member before accepting a dog into said house, but _no,_ apparently not.

Walking down the stairs in his work out clothes in the early evening, planning on taking a run to the Foundry to warm up for Hood work, he didn’t know what was more surprising: the fact that Hunter actually started loudly barking when passing Thea, or the fact that his sister yelped and fell down the stairs at the sight of the dog.

“Are you okay?” he asked worriedly, stooping down to grab her arm to help her up. “You’re not hurt, are you? Hunter, hush!” he ordered the dog when the canine continued to bark at Thea, slightly hunched and crouched defensively. “What’s got into you?” The dog stopped barking but whined, lying down at Oliver’s feet and putting his head on his paws. “That’s better.”

“Why is there a _dog_ in our house?” Thea shrieked. “And how come he’s obeying you? Oliver, did you get a dog!? When did you get a dog!?”

Oliver was totally confused. “Three days ago?”

“Shit! Do Mom and Walter know? Mom hates dogs!”

Oliver’s heart sunk. “You don’t know.”

“What? That you got a dog? Yeah, I didn’t know!” Hunter started barking at her again. “Why’s he barking at me?!”

If Oliver didn’t know any better, he would have said that Thea sounded afraid of Hunter, but he knew from experience that Thea actually loved dogs, so she wasn’t freaking out because of fear. Narrowing his eyes, the archer observed carefully as Thea hunched in on herself and tried to back away from the dog, keeping herself angled away from him. Frowning, Oliver moved closer, trying to get a glimpse at his sister’s face. She was sweating, with dilated pupils. Her skittish behaviour just made him even more suspicious.

Realisation hit him like a freight train. “You’re high.”

“What?” Thea looked at him with a wild expression. “No! Oliver, get your dog away from me!” Hunter was now barking more urgently, approaching Thea and forcing her to back up towards the wall.

“Hunter, back off!” Oliver ordered. The dog halted and reluctantly retreated to behind his master, ears flat against his skull. “Thea, have you got any more drugs on you?” he demanded.

“I don’t have any drugs,” the seventeen year old insisted, but there was a scared glint in her eyes that Oliver couldn’t ignore. “Where’d you get that idea from? That’s insane!”

“Thea, Hunter was trained as a sniffer dog!” he hissed back at her, lowering his voice so he could tell her firmly, “He’s barking at you because he can smell the drugs. So what have you taken this time, huh? What have you brought home?”

“Ollie, stop,” Thea whispered, almost a sob as Hunter continued to growl lowly. He was pretty scary, Oliver had to admit, due to his size.

“What’s going on here?!” Moira swept into the room with her usual elegance, but the fury in her voice made both of her children shrink back slightly. Pulling herself up to full height, Moira fixed stern eyes on both Oliver and Thea. “Oliver, why is Hunter barking?” she asked calmly.

Oliver turned to Thea. She looked absolutely terrified, starting to shake. Their mother didn’t know Thea was bringing drugs into the house, judging by his little sister’s reaction. And Oliver didn’t have any idea how Moira was going to react to that. And he couldn’t trust his mother dealing with Thea’s drug habits, thanks to how he now knew she reacted to Thea’s other misdemeanours.

No. He would have to deal with this himself.

“Thea startled me,” he lied, “When I came down the stairs. Hunter saw my reaction and barked at her because he thought she was scaring me.”

“Alright,” Moira allowed, although she looked disbelieving. “Thea, why were you yelling?”

“I didn’t know Oliver got a dog,” Thea finally said. Oliver stared at her, and he could see, as his sister turned to him, the sheer gratitude visible in her eyes at him not telling their mother about the drugs.

Moira looked suitably flustered, which was a first. “Oh, we forgot to tell you – sweetheart, Hunter is Oliver’s service dog.”

Thea stood in silence for a minute before questioning shortly, sounding completely bemused, “What?”

“I have PTSD,” Oliver informed her stiffly, his posture tensed and thumb ticking at his fingers in anxiety. “And social anxiety. Hunter’s my psychiatric assistance dog.” As if responding to his words, but actually in reality responding to the stress coursing through the archery’s body, Hunter pressed into his right leg, providing a comforting weight, and trying to guide him towards the living room. “Sorry, he’s – Thea’s the first person I’ve had to explain to and I’m nervous.”

“Let’s take this into the living room,” Moira suggested, gently pressing her hand into the small of Thea’s back from what Oliver could see, guiding her to a couch. “We’ve obviously got a lot to explain to you, Thea.”

“But, Mom, you _hate_ dogs,” Thea whispered, trying to keep her voice low so Oliver couldn’t hear.

“Your brother needs this,” Moira murmured back, trying to match her daughter’s tone, not knowing that Oliver could hear everything they were saying due to his hearing having improved on the island. “My… dislike of dogs doesn’t matter if this helps him.”

After having clarifying the reasons for Hunter being Oliver’s service dog, Thea took the information in a lot more easily and swiftly. In fact, she seemed to like Hunter, and tried to stroke him, despite Oliver clearing his throat and telling her that he was on duty so shouldn’t be petted. In the end though, the archer didn’t mind; he was just overcome with relief that his sister hadn’t rejected him because of his mental struggles and rejected Hunter.

Once Moira left, planning to meet Walter for lunch, that left Thea alone with Oliver and Hunter in the living room. As soon as the front door closed behind their mother, Thea pulled a small plastic bag with three pills inside out of her bra and guiltily handed the bag to Oliver.

Hunter instantly reacted by half jumping onto the couch and his lips drawing back in a snarl, so Oliver pushed him down gently with his hand on the dog’s muzzle, and Hunter grumpily returned to lying calmly at his master’s feet.

“It’s oxycodone,” Thea murmured, refusing to meet his gaze. “Ollie, I wasn’t – I wasn’t going to take them –“

“Yes you were,” Oliver replied. “You’ve already taken one. There’s no point even trying to lie to me. We both know that you’ve been taking these and you had no intention to stop taking them. Or, to be more accurate, tip the powder out of the shells and snort it with your friends.” Thea didn’t say anything. “Yeah, I know about that, Thea. I also know about what happened at my home-coming party. ‘Fun-dip’? Really?”

“How’d you know –“ She cut off, closing her eyes in realisation, squeezing her hands into fists. “Since when can you pickpocket?”

“Does that matter?” Oliver responded, rising to his feet and Hunter rising alongside him. “If you try and bring drugs into the house again, you’ll be the one to explain to Mom next time why Hunter won’t stop barking at you. I won’t cover for you again.”

“What, no intervention speech?” Thea snarked sarcastically, obviously trying to cover up how shaken she was. She eyed Hunter warily. “Hiding behind your dog?”

“No,” Oliver answered calmly. “I know that whatever intervention speech I give you won’t work. So just know that whilst I may not be able to do anything to stop you popping pills and taking drugs except occasionally steal and destroy your stash, Hunter will tear your entire world down if you try and pull a stunt like you did today again.” With that, he turned and headed towards the front door.

“Ollie.” He paused, turning back. Thea finally raised her head and blinked tear-filled eyes at him. “Thanks. For – for not telling Mom. I really don’t want her to know how messed up I am.”

“Thea, you’re not messed up,” he replied softly. “If anybody’s messed up in this family, it’s me. Trust me, I have the service dog to prove it.” He shook his head. “No more drugs in the house, Thea.”

“Right. No more drugs in the house,” she echoed.

“I would say no more drugs period,” Oliver continued. “But I know you’re not going to listen to your damaged older brother, so it would be wasted breath. See you tomorrow.” They stared at each other for a moment, before Oliver asked, “Hey, I didn’t know Mom doesn’t like dogs.”

“Why do you think we’ve never had one?” Thea raised an eyebrow.

“Hmm. Good point.” He shot her a somewhat sympathetic look and told her, “Get some rest, okay? Sleep your high off. I’ll make you some pancakes later.”

“Where are you going?”

“Out for a run. I’ll be back soon.”

It was only when man and dog reached the end of the Queen mansion driveway that Oliver stepped back, knelt down and began praising Hunter, scratching him under the chin and mumbling words of approval, which the dog responded to happily.

At least Oliver knew that if he couldn’t keep an eye on Thea, his loyal service dog would.

* * *

The next day, Thea’s original apprehension concerning Hunter seemed to have completely and utterly vanished. Striding into the dining room, feeling fresh and fully awake after a shower, Oliver stretched and greeted Thea with a small smile. Moira and Walter weren’t downstairs yet, but Thea obviously had school so was up earlier.

Hunter sleepily trailed behind him; his tail, which was usually happily wagging and waving in the air, was dragging behind him on the floor and every few minutes, he yawned, flashing sharp whine canines. Feeling slightly guilty at his dog’s tiredness, because the dog had stayed up nearly all night comforting the archer after a particularly bad nightmare, Oliver scratched under Hunter’s chin once he was seated opposite Thea.

“G’morning,” Thea yawned, slumped in her usual chair. “Raisa’s bringing breakfast in at half eight. Mom and Walter should be here in fifteen minutes.”

“Nice,” Oliver nodded. “What are we having?”

“Raisa said Walter’s got an important QC meeting, so she’s making her special peanut butter banana pancakes.”

Arching an eyebrow, Oliver whispered conspiratorially, “Do you think we could just lie and say that Walter’s got important meetings _every_ day?” Raisa’s peanut butter banana pancakes were _life-changing_. Oliver had actually dreamt about eating them several times on the island. “Maybe I could guilt trip her.”

“Yeah, you did miss five years worth of pancakes,” Thea agreed. “Maybe we should have them every day for a year to make up for that.” Switching the subject suddenly, she questioned brightly, “Where’s Hunter?”

“Right here,” Oliver responded, slightly confused. “Where else would he be?”

Thea, lighting up, immediately stood and hurried around the table. Ignoring her brother’s incredulous expression, she knelt down to begin fussing over Hunter. In response, the dog reared his head back, shooting her a weird, confused look, as whilst on duty he wasn’t meant to be stroked and petted, and Oliver shifted uncomfortably.

“Thea,” he tried to interrupt her. “Um. Hunter’s on duty.”

His sister ignored him, cooing over the German Shepherd husky mix, complimenting and praising him and rubbing his belly. Hunter sent Oliver a wild, bemused glance, trying to back away from her and hide behind the archer’s legs.

“Thea,” Oliver snapped, losing his patience a little.

“Stop complaining,” Thea scowled up at him. “He deserves to be spoilt if he has to deal with you every day.”

Pushing past the stab in his chest that comment caused, as he was pretty sure that Thea didn’t mean to sound as if it was a burden to spend time with him, Oliver placed a hand on Hunter’s back protectively. “It’s his job.”

“Sure,” Thea rolled her eyes, and fury sparked in Oliver’s chest at the idea that Thea just thought that Hunter was a mere _pet_ to the archer.

“I’m serious,” Oliver told her tightly.

Thea just scoffed again and tried to reach out to fuss with her brother’s dog’s ears.

Hunter, however, seemed to have decided he’d had enough. He ducked away from Thea, ears pressed back against his skull as he slipped underneath Oliver’s chair and rested his head on Oliver’s right foot, huffing. Oliver ducked underneath the table for a few seconds to rub Hunter’s ears and when he looked back up, Thea looked confused and also a little hurt and angry.

“Good morning,” Moira greeted them both, appearing in the doorway and sweeping inside the room with her usual, casual, regal grace. Catching sight of Thea’s expression, she asked worriedly, “What’s wrong?”

“Oliver’s dog doesn’t like me,” Thea grumbled, standing and returning to her chair to glare at her brother.

“What do you mean?” Walter questioned, appearing next to Moira, straightening his suit jacket. “Hunter likes everybody.”

“Yeah, well, he won’t let me stroke him.”

Understanding dawned on their mother and step-father, their expressions instantly morphing as they exchanged glances, before they both turned to look at Oliver. Oliver just shrugged, shaking his head. He had tried to explain; Thea just hadn’t listened. Her sulky reactions almost made him think that she was _jealous_ of him having Hunter, but a nagging at the back of the archer’s mind caused him to think, upon observing Thea more closely, that there was something else at play.

“Thea, Hunter’s a service dog,” Moira explained calmly, giving her daughter a small smile. “Whilst on duty, he’s not allowed to be stroked or petted. He probably didn’t understand what was going on.”

“How come Oliver’s allowed to stroke him?”

Oh god, Oliver couldn’t deal with this. He could feel the anxious bubble inside his chest expanding, making his breathing shorter; he knew it was dickish and awful, but he had to admit that just being around Thea raised his stress levels. He stood and muttered, “You know, I think I’ll skip the peanut butter banana pancakes, if none of you mind.”

Hurrying out of the room and flinching as he heard Thea start off on a rant with a loud, angry, “It’s not fair –“, Oliver headed to the front door. Hunter seemed all too eager to leave as well, padding up beside his master. Opening the door, Oliver was immediately faced with Diggle, who was raising his hand to knock.

“Good morning, sir,” Diggle greeted him impassively, like always. But then he frowned, gazing past Oliver to the dining room where shouting could be heard, and added, “Or not so good morning.”

Oliver made a face at that attempt at a joke.

“Want to get out of here?” Diggle asked, opening the door wider and stepping aside to let Oliver out.

“Please.”

Diggle didn’t smile at his human charge, but grinned when Hunter thumped his tail against his leg to say hello. The car was already waiting in the driveway, and although Oliver didn’t have any real plans besides heading to the Foundry to work out, the idea of just getting some distance between him and the house was appealing. Clambering into the back, the archer settled back and let Hunter put his head on his knees again like he usually did during car journeys.

“You eaten?” Diggle questioned, as he put the car into gear. Without even waiting for his answer, he continued, “Didn’t think so. There’s a nice little café only three blocks from QC that does great breakfast foods.”

“I thought you weren’t my babysitter,” Oliver said.

“No, Hunter’s your babysitter. I’m just invested in your health and well-being. You know, I would be unemployed if you died from starvation.”

It only took fifteen minutes to reach the café Diggle had spoken about, and Oliver felt relief sweep through him on entering, because there were only one or two customers already inside; it was cosy but not confining, there were no strong smells or anything that could trigger a sensory overload, and the staff seemed friendly and unthreatening. Hunter’s tail was wagging as they entered the café, making Oliver relax further. If Hunter trusted they were safe, then they were definitely in no danger.

Diggle ordered food and drinks, setting down a coffee for himself and a glass of orange juice for Oliver. They settled in a booth, the archer comfortably seated so he could face the rest of the room. Hunter once again slipped underneath the table, lying down with his head resting on Oliver’s right foot.

“Thea giving you hell?” Diggle questioned.

Oliver took a sip of his orange juice, nudging Hunter with his other foot and gaining comfort from his warm weight. “It’s complicated.”

Diggle nodded downwards. “It to do with Hunter?” At Oliver’s surprised look, his bodyguard shot him an unimpressed look. “It would be pretty safe to bet that she treats Hunter more like a pet than a service dog.” He paused. “Plus I overheard her yelling when we left that it was unfair that you got a pet and she didn’t.”

Oliver closed his eyes. “She just can’t understand that Hunter has a job to do. I don’t want to be rude to her and tell her to leave him alone and stop stroking him, because of course she can do that when he’s off-duty, but I just want to her stop undermining why I have Hunter.”

“Have you given her the PTSD talk?”

Oliver narrowed his eyes. “What ‘PTSD talk’?”

“Have you explained to her about your PTSD?” Diggle elaborated. “You know, told her about the flashbacks, the nightmares, the sensory overloads and panic attacks?”

“No.”

“If she knew why you needed Hunter, maybe she would let him be.”

The archer shifted in his seat, ticking his finger against the side of his glass as he muttered, “I’m not sure I would be comfortable telling her about that sort of thing. I don’t want her treating me differently like Mom and Walter are.”

Diggle grimaced. “Let me guess, they’re treating you like you’re fragile.”

It was an utterly, absolute relief to Oliver that at least somebody understood. “It’s like they think I’ll break at the tiniest little thing! It’s so annoying!”

They spent the rest of the morning hanging together in the little coffee shop, most of the time just enjoying a comfortable, companionable silence as they watched the residents of Starling pass by outside the window. Oliver pretended not to notice Diggle slipping Hunter a slice of bacon from his sandwich, but the archer couldn’t help his lips quirking up in a smile.

When Oliver returned home, Diggle was dismissed from his bodyguard duty, due to him being asked to work security at a QC event that evening. Straightaway, the archer went out for a run. Hunter jogged at his side the entire time, barely out of breath, and carrying Oliver’s water bottle for him in his mouth as they looped around the mansion grounds three times. After training for around another half an hour, his service dog lying in the shade of a tree as he watched his master, Oliver took a break for lunch. He made sure to check the news as he worked, but it didn’t seem like there was anything that required the Hood’s immediate attention. It seemed as if he would have a free night.

He was chopping mushrooms for a simple omelette, which Shado had taught him to cook on the island, using the eggs stolen from the local wild birds back on Lian Yu, when a tentative knock sounded against the doorframe.

Hunter immediately made a gruff huffing sound as he rose quickly to his paws from where he was resting at Oliver’s feet, rearing his head in a protective manner. Oliver shushed him gently without turning to meet the intruder, already knowing the identity of the person. The archer resumed the whisking of the chicken eggs, pressing his foot into Hunter’s side.

“You want one?” he questioned, beginning to heat up the frying pan. He knelt to open the cupboard holding baking supplies and frowned when he couldn’t find what he was looking for. “My cooking skills are currently limited, but I’ve been experimenting since I got back from the island. Figured I could extend my expertise beyond half burnt pheasant, baked tubers with a relish of wet dirt.”

A single hand clunked down the bottle of olive oil, exactly what he had been searching for. Oliver finally looked at the person, and when he did so, he shot his sister a grateful glance.

“This isn’t you trying to poison me using mushrooms, right?” Thea asked.

“If I wanted to poison you,” Oliver replied. “I would use death cap mushrooms, and not meadow mushrooms.” He motioned down at them. “I gathered these when I went for a run. And they’re definitely edible. So no, this isn’t me trying to poison you.” He turned away, pouring some oil in the frying pan. “And frankly, I’m a little offended you think I’d want to poison you anyway.”

“I’ve been a bitch to you lately.”

Oliver tilted his head. “That… is true. But, also understandable. And forgivable.”

“I’ve been a bitch to Hunter lately,” Thea corrected.

“That… is less forgivable.”

Thea drew up a chair and sat down, seemingly waiting for her brother to say more; Oliver decided that it would be better to finish his cooking before they started a serious conversation. Hunter’s presence a reassuring weight on his calves, the archer finished frying two mushroom omelettes, grating some cheese onto Thea’s as he knew she preferred it that way. Dishing them onto plates, he led his sister to the small kitchen table before handing her cutlery.

“Where’s Mr Diggle?” Thea asked, taking her seat.

“There’s a QC event tonight, Walter asked him to work security. He’s prepping at the venue now.”

“Right.” Thea nodded shortly. They sat awkwardly for half a minute before his sister began, sounding extremely uncomfortable, “I’m really sorry for how I’ve been acting towards Hunter. I didn’t understand how his duties worked with him being a service dog, but I do now.”

Oliver carefully placed his cutlery down, fixing Thea with a look. “Thea. Be honest with me. Are you only apologising because Mom and Walter told you to?”

Thea stared back at him, but after a moment ducked her head and admitted shamefully, “Yes.”

“And do you actually understand now why I need Hunter and what his duties as my service dog entails? Do you properly comprehend how much I need him, and why there are rules regarding when he’s on and off duty?”

“Mom and Walter explained it.”

Oliver shook his head. “No. Being told that information, without recognising its significance and accepting it, doesn’t count as understanding.”

Thea pushed her omelette away angrily. “Fine,” she gritted out. “I don’t understand. Is that what you want to hear? That I don’t understand truly why you need a service dog? That when Mom and Walter say words at me, like PTSD and social anxiety and depression, that I can’t envisage those words being connected to you?”

Oliver knew that Thea was expecting a furious outburst of a remark back, so instead, he just smiled sadly. It was time. He had to tell her. He had to explain, however difficult and painful it would be for him. The look of surprise on his sister’s face at the sight of his smile was worth it. Hunter’s eyes followed the archer as he stood, took the plate with the omelette away and replaced it with a bag of red vines for Thea to take her frustration out on. When they had both been younger, when they had been angry, they had taken red vines and either tied them into a chain of knots or torn them up as small as they could possibly become.

As the older Queen sibling took a seat opposite the younger, slowly lowering himself onto the chair and lacing his fingers together carefully, he said casually, making sure to keep his voice indifferent, “I have nightmares and flashbacks so violent and vivid that I think I’m back on the island, which causes panic attacks. I’ve experienced torture and intense combat so many times that my mind registers all touch as hostile, making me think that practically anybody is out to get me, even though I know logically that they’re not. My senses are so honed and advanced, because they had to be in order to survive, that now I’m back in civilisation, I have hypersensitivity, which can trigger sensory overloads; loud noises make me flinch, strong city smells make me feel faint, and even too spicy, salty or strong-tasting foods make me sick. I’m been on my own, alone, so for long, that I don’t know how to react to and process other people’s emotions, so I find it virtually impossible to interact normally with strangers – even my own friends and family.”

Oliver took a deep breath; now for the hardest part of his confession: “Thea, I’ve considered killing myself a numerous amount of times. On the island, I tried to, whilst hallucinating that I had a gun. Since I’ve been back at home, I have to admit that I’ve thought about self-harming, at least twice. Pain grounds the mind to reality, and at times, I desperately need that sort of control in my life.”

Dropping a hand down, he softly called Hunter over, and the service dog immediately responded, pressing into his legs and snuffling into his owner’s palm. The dog’s prickly whiskers and rough tongue scraping his hand made a smile quirk at Oliver’s lips, his eyes darting down as he stroked his other hand over Hunter’s head. “Whether people see it or not, Hunter immensely helps me with all of that. When I’m in a flashback or nightmare, he’s able to bring me back. When I have a panic attack or a sensory overload, he can calm me down. When I get nervous or panicky around people, he grounds me and makes that fear go away.”

Finally looking up at his sister, Oliver gazed steadily into Thea’s tear filled eyes, noting her trembling and attempting to offer a reassuring smile. “That’s Hunter’s job. That’s why when he’s on duty, doing his job, he can’t be distracted. He’s not my pet – he’s my therapist. And I know that a service dog is no substitute for an actual, qualified psychotherapist, but Hunter is all I need. I honestly do not know where I would be without him. I know I definitely wouldn’t be having this conversation with you and admitting all these things.”

“I had no idea…” Thea whispered, her voice small and avoiding eye contact. “… I’m so sorry, Ollie, I really didn’t know…” She swallowed, continuing with her voice barely audible, “You’ve seriously thought about committing suicide?”

“I wouldn’t lie about that sort of thing,” Oliver replied solemnly. “Yes, I have.”

A horrified look plastered over her face, Thea questioned, “And you still have those kind of thoughts?”

“Less so now I have Hunter,” Oliver reassured quietly. “But yes; very, very occasionally. When a day has been particularly hard and I have had difficulties coping. Don’t tell Mom or Walter, okay? They don’t know. I’m not planning on telling them either. Mom definitely wouldn’t react well if she knew.”

A hand reached out to clutch at one of his ones, squeezing it. He met Thea’s eyes hesitantly and saw the seriousness there as she told him shakily, “I don’t think I could survive losing you again.”

To Thea’s surprise, but not Oliver’s, Hunter moved from pressing into Oliver’s legs so that his head was now resting on Thea’s lap, eyes warmly gazing up at her. Thea shot Oliver a wary look, but at her brother’s nod, she reached her hand down and began stroking the service dog’s head, running her fingers through the soft fur. Oliver turned away to hide the smirk on his face as Thea visibly exhaled and relaxed.

After a few minutes of stroking Hunter, Thea drew back and tightly wrapped her arms around herself, saying tightly, “I thought Hunter isn’t allowed to be stroked by people he’s not helping whilst on duty.”

“He isn’t,” Oliver replied. “Which is why you’re allowed to stroke him.”

Thea sent him a confused look.

Oliver smiled. “Hunter’s doing me a world of good, Thea, but that doesn’t mean he can’t help you too.”

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Please leave kudos and a comment :) Feel free to ask any questions!
> 
> Tumblr: @alexiablackbriar13  
> Twitter: @lexiblackbriar


End file.
